India's forex reserves jump to record high

BENGALURU (Reuters) - India's foreign exchange reserves rose for a fifth straight week to hit a record high of $642.63 billion as of March 22, data from the central bank showed on Friday.

The reserves jumped by $139 million in the reporting week.

Changes in foreign currency assets, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of other currencies held in its reserves.

Foreign exchange reserves include India's Reserve Tranche position in the International Monetary Fund.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) intervenes in the foreign exchange market to curb excess volatility in the rupee.

The domestic currency settled at 83.40 against the dollar on Thursday. India's financial markets were closed on Friday for a holiday.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES (in million U.S. dollars)

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March 22 March 15

2024 2024

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Foreign currency assets 568,264 568,386

Gold 51,487 51,140

SDRs 18,219 18,276

Reserve Tranche Position 4,662 4,689

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Total 642,631 642,492

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Source text: (https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx)

((India Headline News Team; [phone]))

(Reporting by Anuran Sadhu in Bengaluru; Editing by Sohini Goswami)